Senior Research Manager - Product & AI

<h2>About Understood</h2> <p>Understood is a nonprofit focused on shaping the world for difference. We raise awareness of the challenges and strengths of people who learn and think differently. Our resources help people navigate challenges, gain confidence, and find support and community so they can thrive.&nbsp;</p> <p>Having a shared commitment to our values is a key factor in any hire we make. We have five core values:&nbsp;</p> <ol> <li>Continuously learn.</li> <li>Act with intention.</li> <li>Champion difference.</li> <li>Inspire change.</li> <li>Grow together.&nbsp;</li> </ol> <p>Come be part of an organization with an entrepreneurial spirit that’s helping to shape the world for difference. Together, we can build a world where everyone can reach their full potential.&nbsp;</p> <p>To learn more about Understood, please visit:<a href="http://www.understood.org"> www.understood.org</a>.</p> <h2>Who you are&nbsp;</h2> <p>To advance Understood’s mission and to further our impact, we’re hiring a Senior Research Manager, reporting to our Director of Ecosystem Research.&nbsp;</p> <p>You are a researcher who works at the intersection of competitive market intelligence and AI. You build AI-driven workflows—such as bots and scraping pipelines—to deliver a steady stream of product landscape insights to cross-functional teams. You use LLMs like Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity to automate secondary research, and you maintain an always-current view of the market so Understood’s product decisions are evidence-based and ahead of trends. You excel at delivering cutting-edge market insights to product and other functional teams, providing the daily and weekly insights that fuel innovation.</p> <h2>What you’ll do</h2> <p><strong>Product Landscape Automation &amp; Embedded Support</strong></p> <ul> <ul> <li>Own the "always-on" scraping and updating of product landscapes to ensure Understood remains ahead of market trends</li> <li>Design and maintain AI bots (e.g. Gemini GEMs) to create automated data pipelines that streamline secondary research data collection and analysis</li> <li>Serve as the research partner for Product, Product Marketing, and UXR teams, providing rapid-response analysis and weekly Slack updates on competitor moves</li> </ul> </ul> <p><strong>Insights</strong></p> <ul> <li> <ul> <li>Produce high-quality, business-driven insights for many teams, with a focus on the product side of the business (marketing, partnerships, external research, and more)</li> <li>Partner with teams to clarify and sharpen research questions, ensuring findings address the real strategic need